The Forest Of Doom - Part 7 - Lucilla's Path - Chapter 1
This is the seventh part of The Forest Of Doom. Summary Lucilla splits up with Johnny, encounters a Cave Troll, crosses back over the river and deals with the local vegetation again. Characters Player Characters * Lucilla Martinez * Johnny Khan NPC Characters * The Friar * Unnamed Centaur Creatures * Cave Troll * Centaur * Tangleweed Plot Previously... The good dwarfs of Stonebridge have lost their war-hammer. Without it, their King is unable to arouse his people, despite the fact that the hill trolls threaten their village. Rumour has it that the King of another village of dwarfs sent an eagle to Stonebridge to steal the hammer, which it managed to do but dropped it as it flew back over Darkwood. Apparently, two forest goblins found the hammer but could not decide who was to keep it. Then they discovered that the handle unscrewed from the head, and the argument was settled. One kept the head, the other kept the handle. Then they parted. The hammer's head is made of bronze and the handle is made of polished ebony. Both head and handle have the letter G inscribed on them. Finding themselves in an unknown land, Lucilla and Johnny are soon embroiled in the quest to find the hammer and take it to Gillibran, Lord of Stonebridge. As they both walk along the path, suddenly a clump of grass stretches out in front of them. They both leg it. They soon reach the bank of a gently flowing river. There is no bridge but they see that the path continues ahead on the other side. Standing proudly in front of them both is a centaur. He takes them across the river after they pay him with some items. Walking along the path, they meet a friar. He has lost his sacred brass bell to a small furry creature with green spindly arms and legs. He promises to reward Lucilla and Johnny with a magic healing potion if they help him find it. He joins them. The three of them pass a wooden sign pointing to Stonebridge. They continue on, eventually they see a small stone building. The building has no windows. Stone stairs lead down from the door into the gloomy depths. The three of them step carefully down the stone stairs. At the bottom, they find themselves standing in a small, square room with a low ceiling. The floor is thick with dust and there are cobwebs everywhere. In the middle of the room there is what appears to be a large stone box. The top of it is a great stone slab. Along one of the rough stone walls is a small alcove with a candle in it. Lucilla lifts the stone slab and carefully lays it aside. She peers into the box and is horrified to see a rotting corpse lying there. As She and Johnny look around the Friar screams with fear. Turning they both see that the corpse is sitting up, arms outstretched and eyes wide open. The three of them leg it all the way up the stairs and out of the building. As they all wander down the path they see a large pond and a small wooden hut with a thatched roof by its edge. They walk round to the front of the hut and see a large blue vase standing on a small porch. Lucilla shakes the vase and hears a rattling sound. She throws it on the floor. The vase hits the ground but does not break although cracks appear all over it. There is a feeling of vibrations from the earth and then cracks appear all over the porch and the sides of the hut. They all run like hell. Suddenly the hut collapses and crashes to the ground. The sky darkens and a wind starts to howl all about them. The wind blows harder, its force knocking the three of them to the ground. Above the noise of the wind they hear laughter followed by a deep voice rejoicing, "I'm free! I'm free!" Gradually the howling wind dies down and the skies brighten. Picking themselves up, there is no sign of whatever being has been released. Now... They continue on. The path takes a sudden turn to the left. They come to a junction. The path continues ahead, and another path branches off to the right. Lucilla: Let's go this way. She points ahead. Johnny: Maybe we should split up? I'll go right. Friar: I'll stay with you, Lucilla. If that's okay? Lucilla: Okay. Friar: Maybe we can meet at Stonebridge later? Everyone agrees. Lucilla and the Friar continue ahead. They soon come to another junction. They can continue ahead or turn left. They continue ahead. They come to another turning off. They can continue ahead or turn right. They continue ahead. They come to another junction. They can head left, right, or straight ahead. They continue ahead. They come a point where the path branches off to their left and right. This area seems familiar. They turn right. After a short while Lucilla realises that she's been this way before. Then they both come to a path which leads off to their left. They could continue on, or head that way. Lucilla is sure she hasn't been there before. Lucilla and the Friar head left. The path ends at the entrance to a large cave. Lucilla and the Friar enter the cave. Lucilla steps into the cavern with her sword drawn and her ring of light casting shadows around her. The air is cold and moist. They hear a loud snoring and see the large bulk of what, the Friar whispers to Lucilla, is a Cave Troll asleep in a large stone chair. His skin is brown and wrinkled, and he is wearing animal hides. A wooden club lies across his lap and a large leather bag hangs on the back of the chair. Lucilla downs the Potion Of Skill and feels stealthier than ever. She sneaks over to the chair, and round behind it. She is right next to the bag. Opening the bag she finds 5 gold pieces and a small brass bell. She carefully put the coins in her pouch and holds the inside of the bell, muffling it. Lucilla walks out of the cave without any problems. The Friar sees that she's holding something. Friar: What have you got there? Lucilla: (Showing him the bell) Is this the bell you were looking for? Friar: Yes! Wonderful! (He pulls a bottle out of his robes and hands it to her.) Friar: Here is the healing potion I promised you. Lucilla takes the bottle and puts it in her backpack and they head back the way they came. They look around. To their right is the path that Lucilla remembers heads towards Stonebridge. To their left is the path which heads towards Yaztromo's Tower. Friar: Well...I suppose I had better be going...Did you want to accompany me to Yaztromo's Tower? Or part of the way? Lucilla: I will accompany you to Yaztromo's tower. They are not far from the river and are soon stood beside the old oak tree and looking out across the river. The centaur soon spots them and crosses to see them. Centaur: Ah hello again. (then he looks slightly confused) Centaur: This isn't your friend from earlier...Is he okay? Lucilla: Yes, we have just split up Centaur: I see... He looks from Lucilla to the Friar with a bit of a frown. Centaur: So...you moved on fast. Lucilla gives the centaur a strange look. Lucilla: I mean that he's gone in a different direction. We met the friar and helped him find something he was looking for. The centaur looks slightly embarrassed. Centaur: Oh sorry. I do apologise. Now, I take it you wish to cross the river? It's 3 gold each. Lucilla gives the centaur 6 gold. They are soon carried back across to the other side of the river. Not far from the river they come to the part of the path where the grass seemed to come alive and try to grab Lucilla and Johnny earlier. Lucilla pauses and considers how to avoid the same situation. She swings the sword at the tall grass as she approaches it. The smell of freshly mown grass fills the air, as something under the ground groans it's last. 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